Mean button quail

[yarnlady]

Hello all. I hatched one male quail this last spring, and bought two females to keep him company. He mated with one and the other female (Lilo - my 8yo named her lol)  started harassing her constantly, pecking at her viciously all the time, so i moved her to a separate cage. I kept her there about a month and she was fine and the happy couple lived together separately just fine. Unfortunately, the tamer female died mysteriously one night 3 weeks ago after seeming in perfect health. A week later, I moved the other female back into the cage with my male quail so he wouldn't be lonely. All was well for another 2 weeks and she started laying eggs and everything, but 3 days ago I started noticing that my male quail had a significant amount of feathers missing from his neck area. 

Today I woke up to see the female viciously pecking at him - he is completely bald on one side of his head and the spot between his neck and his shoulder is pecked RAW.  I removed her again to the separate cage. Now I have 2 quails in two cages.

What's wrong with the aggressive female? Does anyone know what's causing her to act like that? They have plenty of food and water, a large guinea pig cage with plenty of space, etc.  I have never heard of a female quail out-aggressoring a male one?

And can anyone recommend anything for the male bird? She really did a number on him overnight. He seems fine, but it looks terrible.

[gsc]

Have these two been in cages that are side by side so they can become used to each other?  It maybe that they are not compatable.  The cage also maybe too small.  The smaller cages will work as long as everyone is happy with the arrangement, but if not, you need the space so they can be in the same cage and not in each other's way.  It also gives the one being beat up the chance to get away.  These little guys like to fly and having them in an aviary is always a good idea, gives them room to stretch their wings and also has places for concealment.  The bottom line is, if they are fighting, they don't have enough space.  If you are unable to provide that much room, they will have to live separate lives.

[yarnlady]

They have a little over 2 1/2 square feet of space apiece in the cage which is about 3' tall. It is a very large guineapig cage and the female that died and the male lived there very happily for a month or so, until she shuffled off her mortal coil.  I do intend to get a small aviary with a couple of finches in the coming months. As I understood it, according to the specs given on this very forum, this was more than enough space for two birds, though obviously a huge outdoor aviary is the ideal.

They lived together in peace before altogether with even less space. until he started mating with the other female exclusively, then she got very jealous aggressive toward the female (her sister, actually, whom she'd known her whole life) and had something of a "personality change."  Now that the sister is dead, she's doubly so aggressive to the male, whom she's known for months too.  Maybe they're just not compatible.

[gsc]

We could have a nice discussion about anthropomorphism (attributing human emotion to animals) but if they are fighting, they do not have enough room, unless like betas, you drop them in a 200 sq. mile lake and they both swim to the middle and start fighting.  In that case, they are just hard wired to fight and you have to fence them separate.

One thing to remember, area needed for different types of birds are general, and there are always exceptions to the rule.  Good luck, I understand the challenges of raising these birds in cages, and sometimes, you get ones that just don't want to conform to the rules!!!

I have a jake (young tom turkey) that one day appeared to tick everyone else off and he ended up with a bloody head.  He's now in a different cage with a young hen and has healed up great.  We have to conform to their needs, they will not conform to your desires.  That's just the nature of nature.

[stewaw]

It's a "she".....nuff said :)

  Just kidding (well sort of anyway)- Like gsc said, space is my first guess but occasionally even the best efforts result in a trip to the arctic training camp for the non-conformist.  For now, you need to separate them and let the male recover.  Leave them separated with the agressive hen in the smaller cage and the male in the larger cage until he fully recovers.  Once that is done you can try a reunite into the larger cage.  As the male will have now established the larger cage as HIS territory, you will need to watch him for signs of aggression.  Hopefully, his aggression will temper hers and (as a final egotistical jab....."put her in her place").....Disclaimer: The thoughts expressed above are honest comments tempered with a large amount of humor....if you choose to copy/paste this message into an e-mail to my wife, please do me the courtesy of including this disclaimer....Failure to do so will most certainly result in a frying pan upside my head.....

David   

[CharlieHorse]

It's a "she".....nuff said :)

  Just kidding (well sort of anyway)- Like gsc said, space is my first guess but occasionally even the best efforts result in a trip to the arctic training camp for the non-conformist.  For now, you need to separate them and let the male recover.  Leave them separated with the agressive hen in the smaller cage and the male in the larger cage until he fully recovers.  Once that is done you can try a reunite into the larger cage.  As the male will have now established the larger cage as HIS territory, you will need to watch him for signs of aggression.  Hopefully, his aggression will temper hers and (as a final egotistical jab....."put her in her place").....Disclaimer: The thoughts expressed above are honest comments tempered with a large amount of humor....if you choose to copy/paste this message into an e-mail to my wife, please do me the courtesy of including this disclaimer....Failure to do so will most certainly result in a frying pan upside my head.....

David   

         I tried some of that with my X's, it didn't work!   That's why they are X's now!

LOL!
 

[tomorton]

Its been my experience with buttons that they pair up.  Trios don't do well (as you have found)

[yarnlady]

Thank you all. I did let the male heal, and rearranged the cage "furniture" to give more opportunities for privacy, more nooks and crannies and such with hollowed-out logs and silk plants,  and also put in some mealworms to let the male "court" the famle. Not only are they getting along GREAT now, but she made a nest in one of the nooks, and laid a clutch of 10 eggs, which she is now incubating - and he helps her incubate and sits on the eggs, too, sometimes, since they are almost too many eggs for her to sit on. It's very cute. All's well that ends well. :)